kbkchooch

Been quiet here, any good projects going on??

I currently have an old (Very old integral gearbox) Mantua Mikado with a Pacific boiler and steamchest (thanks Dan) which is absorbing detail parts about as fast as they come in! I still need to fashion the front walkways out of brass (these are just stand ins) A more appropriate Bachmann tender will house a sound decoder once the engine is finished.

?Pics of progress so far

?

Nathan Rich

#1209

That is a very nice looking light Mikado you have there...

As for me, I am just about to get a new job, the truck driving got real old real fast and I went home in May. Now I am about to start a new job as a septic tank pumper guy... the smell sometimes isn't roses but the people are sure happy to see you show up!

Once I get rolling on that, and get out of my mode of taking my mind off the hook (It's been nice to be able to set my own schedule, just been doing odd jobs here and there to keep gas in the truck), I'll probably eventually reorganize my stuff again and start getting things back on track. I have a couple of steamers that need finishing, and that will mean some parts to be procured from Dan... I also have two others that will need new motors and one that I need to buy a jar of bullfrog snot for (the traction tires are gone).

It's hard to do anything when you can't buy parts! Those days are numbered though.

Til next,
Nathan

On Jul 30, 2013 6:43 PM, "kbkchooch" <kbkchooch@...> wrote:

Show quoted text

Been quiet here, any good projects going on??

I currently have an old (Very old integral gearbox) Mantua Mikado with a Pacific boiler and steamchest (thanks Dan) which is absorbing detail parts about as fast as they come in! I still need to fashion the front walkways out of brass (these are just stand ins) A more appropriate Bachmann tender will house a sound decoder once the engine is finished.

?Pics of progress so far

?

?

#1210

开云体育

Very nice, very nice. ?I wonder how you mounted the headlight to the smokebox front? ?I had to solder one onto a brass PRR A5s and it was a bear. ?I ended up drilling a couple of holes in the top of the smokebox front and soldered .015" brass rod to give the headlight some support. ?Soldering onto zamac is not something most mortals would attempt, so I am guess some kind of epoxy and maybe pinning it?

Regards,?
Vic Bitleris Raleigh, NC

To: yardbirdtrains@...
From: kbkchooch@...
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 01:32:31 +0000
Subject: [yardbirdtrains] What's everybody working on??

Been quiet here, any good projects going on??

I currently have an old (Very old integral gearbox) Mantua Mikado with a Pacific boiler and steamchest (thanks Dan) which is absorbing detail parts about as fast as they come in! I still need to fashion the front walkways out of brass (these are just stand ins) A more appropriate Bachmann tender will house a sound decoder once the engine is finished.

?Pics of progress so far

?

#1211

开云体育

Ohh, I forgot to answer your question; "What's everybody working on??"

I have not worked on ANY modeling projects in months. ?the last modeling project I did was working on a New One, brass 0-6-0. ?I had to completely rebuild the pilot beam and installed a Kadee coupler. ?Likewise, I had to create a rear beam and foot boards for the tender, so I could add a Kadee coupler to it. ?I would like to get back to that and finish the loco and get it running. ?But, running is the key.

I have been diligently slaving away at the layout. ?I have finally got all the new subroadbed knitted to and modified the old layout so now I can continue to lay track. ?Before that happens, I have been working on pre-wiring and making control panels (WHAT A CHORE!) and mounting Tortoises, also a chore. ?My initial plan was to have the main line completely connected and fully operation by my retirement next May/June. ?This seems to be going way ahead of schedule and with luck, I will have the mainline done, control panels in place and RUNNING TRAINS again. ?

Having said, that, one cannot just work on the layout bones non-stop. ?I am absolutely certain I will take breaks before the summer is out and work on my locomotives. ?I will try to take photos and post in the Photos section.

Regards,
Vic Bitleris Raleigh, NC

To: yardbirdtrains@...
From: kbkchooch@...
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 01:32:31 +0000
Subject: [yardbirdtrains] What's everybody working on??

Been quiet here, any good projects going on??

I currently have an old (Very old integral gearbox) Mantua Mikado with a Pacific boiler and steamchest (thanks Dan) which is absorbing detail parts about as fast as they come in! I still need to fashion the front walkways out of brass (these are just stand ins) A more appropriate Bachmann tender will house a sound decoder once the engine is finished.

?Pics of progress so far

?

#1213

I got side tracked from the Mantua Mikado I was working on.

?I have been working on an old scratch built K4 I started about 20 years ago. I had hoped to find a Pennline boiler to fit the Pennline frame but haven't found one (cheap enough), so I am going to finish it as is.

?Hope to get back to the Mike soon.

?

kbkchooch

#1214

Vic, the headlight was pretty easy. The headlight and platform are separate castings (Cary or Cal Scale, I can't remember which). The headlight bracket has 2 pins coming off the back. I just located the spots, drilled 2 holes and CA'ed it into place!
Some of the other parts were harder, and the is more to come!

KarlB

Show quoted text

--- In yardbirdtrains@..., Victor Bitleris <bitlerisvj@...> wrote:

Very nice, very nice.  I wonder how you mounted the headlight to the smokebox front?  I had to solder one onto a brass PRR A5s and it was a bear.  I ended up drilling a couple of holes in the top of the smokebox front and soldered .015" brass rod to give the headlight some support.  Soldering onto zamac is not something most mortals would attempt, so I am guess some kind of epoxy and maybe pinning it?Regards,
Vic Bitleris
Raleigh, NC

To: yardbirdtrains@...
From: kbkchooch@...
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 01:32:31 +0000
Subject: [yardbirdtrains] What's everybody working on??

      Been quiet here, any good projects going on??

I currently have an old (Very old integral gearbox) Mantua Mikado with a Pacific boiler and steamchest (thanks Dan) which is absorbing detail parts about as fast as they come in! I still need to fashion the front walkways out of brass (these are just stand ins) A more appropriate Bachmann tender will house a sound decoder once the engine is finished.
 Pics of progress so far

#1216

开云体育

Thanks Karl, that makes perfect sense.

Regards,
Vic Bitleris Raleigh, NC

To: yardbirdtrains@...
From: kbkchooch@...
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 19:02:19 +0000
Subject: [yardbirdtrains] Re: What's everybody working on??

Vic, the headlight was pretty easy. The headlight and platform are separate castings (Cary or Cal Scale, I can't remember which). The headlight bracket has 2 pins coming off the back. I just located the spots, drilled 2 holes and CA'ed it into place!
Some of the other parts were harder, and the is more to come!

KarlB

--- In yardbirdtrains@..., Victor Bitleris wrote:
>
> Very nice, very nice. I wonder how you mounted the headlight to the smokebox front? I had to solder one onto a brass PRR A5s and it was a bear. I ended up drilling a couple of holes in the top of the smokebox front and soldered .015" brass rod to give the headlight some support. Soldering onto zamac is not something most mortals would attempt, so I am guess some kind of epoxy and maybe pinning it?Regards,
> Vic Bitleris
> Raleigh, NC
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> To: yardbirdtrains@...
> From: kbkchooch@...
> Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 01:32:31 +0000
> Subject: [yardbirdtrains] What's everybody working on??
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> I currently have an old (Very old integral gearbox) Mantua Mikado with a Pacific boiler and steamchest (thanks Dan) which is absorbing detail parts about as fast as they come in! I still need to fashion the front walkways out of brass (these are just stand ins) A more appropriate Bachmann tender will house a sound decoder once the engine is finished.
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#1219

I've been working on a Dockside cab forward.  I don't have that Kemtron shorty Vanderbilt tender, however.  Perhaps I'll use an MDC 0-6-0 tender.

Al

#1226

Still working on vintage rolling stock. Current project is a "Comet" Wabash Auto Box. The original model dates from the late 1930s. After doing some research, I found that the Comet model was correctly lettered and numbered and that the real Wabash car had grabs instead of ladders. A note in the instructions said, if my particular model had grabs, I could send a SSE to Comet and they'd send a set of grabs (staples) to me. Obviously there is no way to order the original parts today but Tichy grabs will do nicely. I also found that, although embossed paper is not the material of choice for today's modelers, never the less, all the details were all correct and nicely done except the outside braces and the dreadnought ends were much flatter than on today's models... so I am in the process of bringing the old model up to more modern standards of detail.?

? ? ?I've seen many card stock models where the modeler tried to add detail and/or paint after affixing the card stock. But if you make a mistake, the car is ruined because you can't remove dried paint or glue from card stock without ruining what is printed on it. With this in mind, when I added new side bracing using pieces of styrene, I glued the braces on first and I am planning on painting the entire car a color that is as close as possible to the printed sides, then, using an exacto knife, cut out each section of the card stock sides that goes between the braces and gluing them in place one and a time. Haven't got there yet.

? ? ?For the ends, I needed 3-3-3 dreadnought ends which, I discovered, are not made by anyone anywhere as a separate detail part. But I found that 1970s era Tyco plug door 50' boxcars do have the correct ends. I bought one on eBay, cut off the ends and had a heck of a time sanding and filing off the cast-on details to get usable ends. I lost some of the finer detail in the process but the major goal of getting more 3-D ends was accomplished. Once again I plan to carefully cut the needed details and lettering from the Comet card stock and gluing them to the ends after detailing and painting.?

? ? ?I am currently working on the roof. The Comet kit was meant to build a peaked roof car however the Wabash car that my kit was based on actually had a radial roof. To get a radial roof, I glued extra pieces of wood to the kit's roof and then sanded and filed it into a radial shape. I made some sanding errors so I currently have some wood filler on the roof which, when dry, I will attempt to sand into the right shape.?

? ? ?The kit comes with simple balsa strip to make the roof ribs however I decided that the stamped brass ribs that were common on many other models would be perfect for my car. I went the eBay route again. I bought a basket case Varney card stock car and cannibalized it for the roof ribs which will go on as soon as I finish sanding.

? ? ?Lastly, the bottom needs a little work. The original car was based closely on the USRA SS boxcar and shared the fishbelly frame with it. I'll use the Silver Streak USRA frame pieces that I found attached to the Ulrich car I rebuilt last year.

? ? ?If anyone is interested, I posted a couple of pics in Jeff's Rolling Stock that show the Tyco boxcar before I cut it up and then the Comet Wabash cardstock sides and the new ends for comparison. More pics to follow.

?

? ? ?Funaro makes a resin version of a very similar car. Here is a link to it: ?

-- Jeff

? ? ??